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Red Sox 2013 World Series: Boston loses to Cardinals 5-4 on walk-off obstruction call on Will Middlebrooks in epic Game 3

World Series Red Sox Cardinals Baseball

Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell argues with home plate umpire Dana DeMuth after St. Louis Cardinals scored the winning run on an obstruction play during the ninth inning of Game 3 of baseball's World Series Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013, in St. Louis. The Cardinals won 5-4 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

ST. LOUIS — The Red Sox all wondered: where could Will Middlebrooks have gone?

A back-and-forth third game of the World Series ended surreally Saturday night, with the Cardinals celebrating on the first-base side of home plate and the Red Sox arguing on the third-base side at Busch Stadium. Boston's initial confusion on the field quickly turned to anger in the clubhouse.

St. Louis' Allen Craig stumbled home from third-base on an obstruction call — he tripped on Middlebrooks near the third-base bag — in the bottom of the ninth inning on Saturday night, giving St. Louis a 5-4 walk-off win. Middlebrooks dove for a ball that got by him, and was still on the ground after making the attempt when Craig tripped over him.

Third-base umpire Jim Joyce signaled interference, and home plate umpire Dana DeMuth finished off the play with a safe call at home.

"Tough way to have a game end," Sox manager John Farrell said, "particularly of this significance, when Will is trying to dive inside to stop the throw. I don't know how he gets out of the way when he's lying on the ground. And when Craig trips over him, I guess by the letter of the rule you could say it's obstruction. Like I said, that's a tough pill to swallow."

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With runners on second and third and one out and the game tied at 4, St. Louis's Jon Jay hit a grounder off Koji Uehara that took a fantastic play from Dustin Pedroia to stop. Pedroia fired home to record one out on a tag play, and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia saw Craig heading for third base.

Saltalamacchia fired down to the bag, to Middlebrooks' left, and the third baseman couldn't snag it on a dive. The ball trickled into foul territory, where left fielder Daniel Nava picked up the ball and threw home.

It looked like the Red Sox had Craig — who was injured on the play — out at the plate. The throw beat him, but it didn't matter.

As Craig got up to run home, he tripped on Middlebrooks' legs, and that brought the obstruction call. The Red Sox argued near home plate as the Cardinals jumped into each other's arms. Adding to the oddity of the scene, Craig was hurt on the play. He hadn't played this postseason before the World Series because of a foot injury.

"I didn’t know if I was out or safe or not,” Craig said.

"Baseball is a crazy game," winning pitcher Trevor Rosenthal said. "I don't know exactly what the rule is or what the rule book says about that, but it seemed pretty evident that there might have been some obstruction, and just happy that it worked out in our favor tonight."

David Ortiz was blunt.

"I don't think you finish a World Series game like that," he said.

Saltalamacchia might not have needed to make the throw. This is the second straight game the Red Sox have made a bad, costly throw to third base. Craig Breslow threw one away in Game 2.

"We have forced a couple of throws to third base that have proven costly," Farrell said. "Tonight was a costly throw."

Obstruction is the act of a fielder who, while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball, impedes the progress of any runner.

Rule 2.00 (Obstruction) Comment: If a fielder is about to receive a thrown ball and if the ball is in flight directly toward and near enough to the fielder so he must occupy his position to receive the ball he may be considered “in the act of fielding a ball.” It is entirely up to the judgment of the umpire as to whether a fielder is in the act of fielding a ball. After a fielder has made an attempt to field a ball and missed, he can no longer be in the “act of fielding” the ball. For example: an infielder dives at a ground ball and the ball passes him and he continues to lie on the ground and delays the progress of the runner, he very likely has obstructed the runner.

Intent, the umpires said, didn't matter. Neither did the fact that Middlebrooks had nowhere to go.

"There does not have to be intent, okay?" crew chief John Hirschbeck said. "Once he has the opportunity to field the ball, he can no longer in any way obstruct the runner. That's basically the rule.

"The last, most important part of this rule, is that the umpire has to determine — if what you saw tonight happened and he's out by 20 feet, then the umpire determines that if the obstruction had not occurred, he would have been out, okay? But since it was right there, bang-bang play, obviously that's obstruction. Definitely had something to do with the play."

The Red Sox had problems besides one call, even if they couldn't believe that a game as important as this one would end on a technicality.

Farrell made a curious decision to let Brandon Workman, a pitcher, bat in the top of the ninth inning, because Workman was pulled after facing just two batters in the ninth in favor of Uehara. Mike Napoli did not get an at-bat in the game.

Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz walks off the field after St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Red Sox, 5-4, in Game 3 of baseball's World Series Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013, in St. Louis. St. Louis won the game on an obstruction call. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

"In hindsight, having Workman hit against Rosenthal is a mismatch, I recognize it, but we needed more than one inning out of Workman," Farrell said.

Yadier Molina's bloop one-out single off Workman started the ninth-inning rally for St. Louis. Uehara came on and Craig greeted him with a double, bringing up Jay.

Boston had just tied it at 4 with two out in the eighth inning, on Xander Bogaerts' bounding ball up the middle that went off shortstop Pete Kozma's glove — it was a tough play and ruled a hit. Bogaerts, the youngest player in the Fall Classic, flashed some excitement by lifting his arms when he saw the ball get through. That came off Rosenthal.

Game 3 doesn't mean everything, but it's historically meant a lot. In World Series past that featured a split in the first two games, teams that have won Game 3 have gone on to win it all 67 percent of the time.

"This game's not going to define our team, by any means," Pedroia said. "We lost a tough game. We'll come out and play tomorrow. This won't stop us."

Game 4 is set for 8:15 p.m. ET on Saturday, with a less-than-100-percent Clay Buchholz going for the Red Sox against St. Louis' Lance Lynn.

The Red Sox played catch up all game. Nava's line-drive single to left field off St. Louis' Seth Maness tied the game at 2 in the sixth inning, one inning after Bogaerts' leadoff triple led to Boston's first run.

Things looked grim for the Red Sox in the bottom of the seventh inning, when Breslow faced two batters and couldn't get an out. Junichi Tazawa allowed a tie-breaking, two-run double to the next batter, Matt Holliday, putting St. Louis up 4-2.

The Sox responded by quickly cobbling together a rally in the eighth inning, with the top of the order up. Cards reliever Carlos Martinez, who looked great at Fenway Park, fell into trouble when Jacoby Ellsbury and Shane Victorino both reached.

Pedroia moved both runners over with a ground out and Martinez's last act was to intentionally walk David Ortiz to load the bases.

Rosenthal, a very hard-thrower, came on for a potential five-out save. His first batter, Nava, hit a into a force out at second that second baseman Kolten Wong stopped with a fine play on an in-between hop. Wong had just entered the game.

That brought home one Sox run, cutting St. Louis' lead to 4-3, and brought Bogaerts to the plate.

There were questionable moments for both teams in the middle innings. Cards manager Mike Matheny elected to bring in Maness, a right-handed pitcher, in place of lefty Randy Choate who already on the mound to face Nava in the sixth inning, when Nava's single tied the game at 2. Nava is a much better hitter against right-handed pitchers.

Before Holliday's double in the seventh inning put St. Louis briefly ahead, Matt Carpenter started the frame with an infield single.

Bogaerts — just moved to shortstop — made a throw that was just far enough off-line to make it tough for David Ortiz to scoop at first base. Had Stephen Drew still been in the game — he looks terrible at the plate and was pinch-hit for by Middlebrooks — or had Napoli been at first base, perhaps the inning goes differently.

Boston Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia watches as home plate umpire Dana DeMuth calls St. Louis Cardinals' Allen Craig safe on an obstruction during the ninth inning of Game 3 of baseball's World Series Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013, in St. Louis. The Cardinals won 5-4 to take a 2-1 lead in the series. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

That Red Sox starter Jake Peavy was able to go four innings — a full inning longer than he lasted against Detroit — was a relative victory, considering how badly the Cards hit him around in the first inning. Five balls were hit hard, four of them for hits.

Holliday's liner plated the first run and Yadier Molina's the second for a 2-0 lead.

Peavy settled in by facing the minimum the next two innings before he seemed headed for trouble again in the fourth. The Cards loaded the bases in the fourth inning with none out, but didn't score. The Red Sox were fortunate in the fourth that Molina was held at third base in the inning on a single to center that he well could have been able to score on.

Peavy was vocal after the game about its ending.

"When you watch how hard these teams are playing in the World Series and what it takes to get here, what it takes to do what we did climbing back, it's just amazing to me that it would end on a call like that that's not black and white," Peavy said. "I just don't know what else to say."

With Boston still down 2-0 in the fifth, Bogaerts led off with a triple to right field — making him the third youngest player to triple in World Series history behind Ty Cobb and Mickey Mantle.

The Red Sox didn't even have a base runner until the fourth, but St. Louis starter Joe Kelly is typically not one to go deep into games. He lasted 5 1/3 innings and allowed three runs.